Because she was right, he didn’t have a good argument for that. “Will you at least promise to stay out of the corral, to keep the fence between you and Midnight?”
“Midnight is not going to hurt me.”
Wade’s frustration mounted. “Dammit, you don’t know that. He was as good as wild a few weeks ago.”
“And he’s trusting me more and more every day. You’ve seen it yourself.”
“I just don’t want you getting overconfident and taking risks, especially with nobody else around,” Wade insisted.
Her gaze met his and lingered. He saw the precise moment when curiosity was replaced by surprise. Her expression softened.
“This isn’t some macho edict, is it?” she asked, studying him. “You’re really worried about me.”
“I’m just not sure Grady and Karen have enough insurance to pay for patching your head back together,” he insisted, refusing to admit that he cared the least little bit on his own behalf.
She reached for his hand. “No, you’re worried about me, aren’t you, Wade? Admit it.”
He frowned at her persistence, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Okay, fine. Yes, I’m worried about you.”
“Why?”
Now that, he thought, was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. “Because anything that has to do with the horses around here is my responsibility,” he said finally.
“So, this is purely a selfish concern on your part,” she said, her gaze still clashing with his, daring him to deny it.
“Yes,” he insisted.
“Bull,” she said softly. “But I’ll let it pass this time.”
She stood up, and the movement was enough to send the scent of her perfume wafting toward him. She put her hand on his cheek, then slowly withdrew it. “Thanks for caring.”
She was gone before he could think of a satisfactory comeback.
“How did you and Wade make out last night?” Grady inquired as he bolted down his breakfast at dawn the next morning.
Karen’s gaze shot toward Lauren. “You were with Wade last night?”
“He stopped by,” Lauren said tightly. “We talked for a while, though he and Grady actually had a much more fascinating conversation in the foyer.”
Dull red climbed into Grady’s cheeks. “Damn!”
Lauren grinned at him. “It’s nice that you took my side. And actually it’s rather sweet that Wade’s so worried about me, even if it is annoying that he doesn’t trust me to have a grain of sense in my head.”
Karen listened, looking spellbound by the entire exchange. “My, my. Wade’s sweet and annoying, all in one breath. Where was I when all this was going on?”
“Tucked into bed waiting for your husband,” Lauren said. “See what happens when you have a one-track mind? You miss all the fun stuff that goes on around here.”
Karen’s gaze flew to meet her husband’s, and her cheeks flushed. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
Lauren groaned. “I’m going to the barn. If the horses have the hots for each other, at least I don’t have to hear about it.”
“But I want to hear every last detail about you and Wade,” Karen called after her. “I won’t forget about this.”
Lauren sighed. “Yes, I know. It’s one of those sad truths I’ve come to accept. You’re the worst meddler in our crowd, and I have the misfortune to be living right under your nose.”
“You could move in with Wade,” Grady suggested, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.
“What have I done to myself?” Lauren asked with a resigned sigh. “You’re as bad as she is.”
“Actually, we’re a helluva team,” Karen said. “Face it, sweetie, you’re doomed.”
“I refuse to accept that,” Lauren said adamantly.
Karen grinned. “I know. That’s why this is so much fun.”
Chapter Six
Lauren was almost at the barn when she heard a car pull up, then the sharp sound of two doors slamming. She turned back just in time to spot Emma and her daughter, Caitlyn, heading her way. Emma waved at Lauren, but all of the child’s attention was focused on the horses in the corral.
“Hey, there,” Lauren called out. “What brings you two out this way?”
“Caitlyn wanted to visit her aunt Karen’s horses,” Emma claimed with a perfectly straight face. “She’s been obsessed with them ever since her grandfather gave her that pony. And now that she’s seven—”
“I’m almost eight,” Caitlyn corrected.
Emma gave Lauren a rueful smile. “Excuse me. Now that she’s almost eight, she wants a grown-up horse.”
Lauren shook her head. The explanation might be true enough as far as it went, but there was more. Workaholic Emma wouldn’t have made the drive on a weekday just to satisfy her daughter’s whim. Nope, this was all about Emma’s curiosity, which had clearly been fanned by reports of the events of two nights ago from Cassie or Stella or both.
“Nice try,” Lauren said to Emma, “but there are plenty of horses at your folks’ place. What’s the real reason you’re here? Or should I even bother to ask?”
“Okay, the truth? We wanted to check up on you,” Emma said, still feigning innocence. “How are you settling in?”
Lauren took one look at the amusement glinting in Emma’s eyes and sighed. That look went way beyond casual interest. She definitely knew something—or thought she did.
“What have you heard?” Lauren asked, resigned to a cross-examination.
“Heard?” Emma asked, though her innocent expression was wavering. “Is there something to hear?”
Lauren frowned. “To borrow an expression from an attorney who used to be among my best friends, go suck an egg.”
Emma laughed. “Then it’s true? You were getting all nice and cozy with Grady’s new wrangler at Stella’s the night before last? That was the first thing I heard over coffee this morning. Cassie couldn’t wait to spill the beans.”
“Define cozy,” Lauren said. “We were with Karen and Grady, after all. And is this something we should be discussing in front of your daughter?”
Actually Caitlyn was already inching toward the rail at the corral and was pretty much out of earshot.
Emma chuckled. “Speaking of nice tries,” she said.
